Florida is the hottest state in the US, says study
If you gave people the chance to describe last year’s summer in one word, a good chunk of the population would probably tell you the same thing – it was hot. And they would be right.
Last year was the warmest year in the modern temperature record, which dates back in 1850, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It clocked in 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average of 57 degrees.
The heat was inescapable, too, as even sea surface temperatures (SSTs) broke records when a NOAA buoy measured temperatures as high as 97 degrees in some areas of Florida waters.
Payless Power, an industry-leading company that provides customers with power solutions, has conducted a study using data provided by the World Weather Online API to analyze weather data and determine the hottest states in the U.S.
There is one caveat to consider about the study, and that’s which weather data it used. The data samples used to average out each state’s annual average, maximum and minimum temperatures come from the five most populous cities in each state from the past 15 years.
Here are the study’s results.
Florida ranks as No. 1 hottest state in the U.S.
On average, Florida ranked as the hottest state in the U.S., with an average of temperature of 74.1 degrees over the past 15 years. It was followed closely by Hawaii (73.8 degrees) and Arizona (73.6 degrees).
Florida’s average temperature has steadily risen over the past 15 years, according to the data. In 2009, the state’s average temperature was recorded at 73.1. Fast forward to 2023, and the average jumped to 76.3 degrees, a 3.2-degree increase.
The reason for the jump isn’t necessarily the rise of maximum temperatures, however. It’s the rise of minimum temperatures. In 2009, the maximum temperature was 99 degrees. Over the 15 years of recorded data, that number bobbed like a fishing lure, ending at 101 degrees in 2023.
However, the minimum temperature tells a different story. In 2009, the average minimum temperature was recorded at 28 degrees and even dropped as low as 25 degrees in 2010. While there have been some dips here and there, the average minimum temperature in 2023 was 38 degrees, a 10-degree increase since 2009.
All five of the Florida cities recorded in the data made the list of the top 25 hottest U.S. cities by average daily temperature.
Miami ranked second at 77.8 degrees, Cape Coral ranked No. 8 at 75.2 degrees, Tampa ranked No. 13 at 73.8 degrees, Orlando ranked No. 14 at 73.2 degrees and Jacksonville ranked No. 17 at 70.8 degrees.
Key takeaways
Alaska (36.5 degrees), North Dakota (42.3 degrees) and Montana (42.8 degrees) were ranked as the coldest U.S. states on average.
St. Louis, Missouri, ranked as the hottest U.S. city in the past 15 years, with an average annual temperature of 83.3 degrees.
Fairbanks, Alaska, ranked as the coldest city in the U.S., with an average annual temperature of 29.5 degrees.